Government able to sue errant concessionaires: Walhi
Government able to sue errant concessionaires: Walhi
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Forestry is in a position to file lawsuits
against errant industrial timber companies in addition to
revoking their licenses, if there is enough evidence showing that
they had committed serious offenses, an environmental observer
said on Tuesday.
Longgena Ginting, the chairman of the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi), told The Jakarta Post that the government
had the option of filing the lawsuits, if it possessed
substantial evidence that could be presented in court.
"The ministry should publicly announce what sort of violations
the companies had committed so that the public can assess whether
court action is necessary or simply administrative sanctions,"
Longgena said.
He was commenting on the ministry's plan to revoke the
operating licenses of 13 industrial timber plantation companies
for various reasons, including their failure to develop timber
estates as required by the license.
The 13 concessionaires whose licenses will be revoked were
awarded concessions covering a total area of some 900,000
hectares.
The ministry took similar action against 14 companies in the
middle of last month, stirring resentment among industry players.
A week after the decision was announced, 13 concessionaires
filed lawsuits, asking the Jakarta Administrative Court to annul
the ministry's decisions.
The industrial timber plantation is a scheme in which
concessionaires are allowed to clear old growth forests and
replant the area with a certain type of tree for industrial
purposes.
The concessionaires are allowed to sell the trees from old
growth forests to raise funds for the development of industrial
timber plantations. The government provides them with interest-
free loans derived from reforestation funds collected by the
government from concessionaires.
Minister of Forestry M. Parkosa said on Monday that the
government had provided the errant companies with interest-free
loans taken from reforestation funds.
"They have enjoyed interest-free reforestation funds from the
government for years," Prakosa was quoted by Antara as saying.
He said the ministry was investigating if these firms had
abused the funds, but he fell short of saying if he would sue the
companies on corruption charges.
Although the ministry's move has caused anger among industry
players, environmental observers have warmly welcomed it.
"The government is taking the right steps considering that
many errant companies have violated their business licenses and
damaged the environment," Satoi Hanif, the deputy program officer
at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said that the burning of forests to clear land, taking
timber from outside designated concessions and misusing
reforestation funds were three major violations often carried out
by the errant companies.
Longgena also said the decision was legally right.